We are a clean government, Premier Philippe Couillard says

Philippe Couillard is challenging anyone to prove his government has been anything but ethically irreproachable since he became Liberal leader and premier.

Dogged by a public image of running a corrupt regime and desperate to turn the page before the 2018 election, Couillard said the only way to change the rampant perception is to repeat “the truth,” again and again.

And the truth is that he’s running a clean ship, Couillard said, wrapping up a two-day Liberal general council meeting in Laval.

“I have been the Liberal leader since March 2013. I have been premier of Quebec since April 2014,” he said at a news conference. “I don’t see anything but irreproachable, straight ethical action both from the party and my government.

“I challenge anyone to say otherwise. I am very proud of this and it will stay that way.”

Couillard made the comment at a news conference dominated by chatter about a new poll commissioned by an opposition party, the Coalition Avenir Québec.

The Léger poll, conducted from Nov. 7-10, concludes 76 per cent of Quebecers share the opinion that corruption is “at least or more,” significant in the Couillard than previous governments.

Broken down, it is the belief of 79 per cent of francophones surveyed and 67 per cent of non-francophones.

Allegations of ethical shortcomings have become a touchy subject with Liberals, who feel they get a bad rap for the deeds of previous governments. It does not take much to get a rise out of them, either.

“I find what comes out (in the media) is abhorrent,” Liberal caucus chairwoman Nicole Ménard said arriving for the council. “It’s always at crucial moments, at times when we are making announcements, something comes out. It’s funny. I don’t know if it’s an accident.”

A specific example was the arrest of former deputy-premier Nathalie Normandeau on the same day last March that the government was bringing down a good news budget. The budget got lost in the headlines.

Health Minister Gaétan Barrette went further saying most of the allegations are the creation of the opposition parties.

“They talk about things which no longer exist in parties,” Barrette said in reference to strict new electoral financing laws.

“Corruption is a big word, an appalling word. I don’t think the Liberal Party should be lumped into this basket.”

The Liberals spent most of the weekend trying to re-boot the nobler side of government — focusing in particular on creating an image that they want to fight social inequality after spending the first two years in office getting government and citizens to tighten their belts.

A new party framework resolution outlining the Liberal vision of family, youth, seniors and First Nations sailed through the council plenary Sunday morning. It’s a shift to Quebec’s vote-rich left as the party tries to give itself a new kinder, gentler image.

“Here is what we are,” Couillard said late Saturday, waving a new book on Liberal values that will come in handy in the election.

The hallway chatter, however, was all about a leaked internal report saying the party is in the doldrums and membership slipping. The Liberals decided to up their game on party activism.

A talk Saturday by Alberta election strategist Stephen Carter, who said anything is possible even for an aging government that correctly sells it accomplishments, was highly attended.

Couillard said one of the things he retained from Cartier is simple: “We should never think because we (got Quebec’s finances in order), people know it.”

But the 500 Liberals in attendance got what they came for when Couillard used his closing speech to dine out on the two main opposition party leaders.

He blasted Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée for switching tactics from one day to another and trying to fool Quebecers into believing he won’t hold a referendum. That pledge just means a six-year referendum campaign, he said.

Over that time, the PQ will instead run a “constant, sneaky propaganda,” campaign to create the impression Canada is not a good country.

The harshest words were for CAQ leader François Legault who was meeting his own party on the weekend in Drummondville. Referring to Legault as “captain catastrophe,” because he is always negative about Quebec, Couillard said he’s a man in search of an identity.

“Now he (Legault) says, ‘I want to stay in Canada but I’m not a federalist,’ ” Couillard said.

Before the election, Legault distanced himself from Trump but now that Trump has won he says he’s an inspiration, Couillard said. The two have something in common. Both want to deport immigrants.

“He (Legault) should be careful because if he continues this way Mr. Tump will distance himself from him,” Couillard quipped.

Couillard dwelled at length on the English-speaking community, saying it has played a central role in Quebec’s vitality and he wants anglophones to stay here and thrive.

“Can there be a better example of the value of this contribution than Leonard Cohen,” he said? “Or the Molson family, and so many more.”

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